A. Getter: In today’s society, parents are challenged with the ability of their children growing up faster than before. Kids are moving closer to being teens. And teens are moving closer to playing the role of an adult.
B. Background ; Audience Relevance:As far as I could remember, we were begging our parents to let us go outside to play. We would play Pokémon cards or play freeze tag and sometimes ride our bikes with our friends. Now, kids in sixth grade are on their phones and worrying about their latest relationships.
C. Speaker Credibility: My nephew, who is two years old, knows how to control the ipad and the play station. There are even pageants shows that 4 year old girls go into and come out not looking like their age.
D. Thesis: Today, I will persuade you all to believe that kids are growing up too fast.
E. Preview of Main Points: First I will talk about teen birth, then I will talk about the use of alcohol, and finally I will talk about the elimination of this problem.
Transition to 1st Main Point: Now, to begin I will discuss about teen births.
II. Main Point 1: Tweens are more sexually active than before, it’s as almost abnormal for a 14 year old to be a virgin.
A. Sub-point A: Todays society is filled with a lot of pressure among younger children. The age for sexual active teens keep getting younger and younger, even if they are children. According to Emily Bridges a director for public information services for advocatesforyouth.org in a study published in October 2011, “The birth rate among teens ages 15-17 was 20.1 in 2009; over 117,000 teens gave birth. The birth rate among teens ages 18-19 was 66.2 births per 1000 teens; over 240,000 teens gave birth.” Teens may face complications like some are likely to drop out of school to take care of their baby.
B. Sub-point B: If a child watches a show which include sexual activity they are more likely to be curious about the activity and probably want to engage in it.
According to E. Gruber a researcher in the area of adolescents and risk behavior published an article in 2000, ” Adolescents may be exposed to sexual content in the media during a developmental period when gender roles, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors are being shaped … and to make decisions based on possible future outcomes are not fully developed.” If an adolescent that is in this stage of their life where they’re just learning how to make a decisions. They are more likely to pick up on decisions that are being made by people in the media or by what they see on TV. Shows like Teen Mom or 16 and pregnant were to educate young girls the struggle of having a baby at a young age but sadly teens tried to get pregnant to go on the show.
Transition to 2nd Main Point:Now that I covered teen pregnancy, I will talk about kids intake of drugs and alcohol today.
III. Main Point 2: Drugs and alcohol are also one of the main causes in quick development of children.
A. Sub-point A: Kids are being pressured to experience with drugs just to be cool. At parties, they might see another kid or teen doing drugs. According to Dana Giblock a clinical director for the Recovery Village published in June 2017, “considering 7.5% of high school students surveyed said they first used pot before age 13 … 11.7% of 8th graders smoked pot in the last year, 6.5% of 8th graders smoked pot in the last month, 42% of 8th graders don’t believe that regular marijuana use is harmful.” Friends try to pressure into trying drugs to rebel against their family or peers.
B. Sub-point B: Kids also pressure others to party and have fun and to drink. According to Hilary Smith, a clinical director in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program for helpguide.org in a study published in 2011, “In past generations, boys were much more likely than girls to experiment with alcohol in their teens, but girls are catching up. In 2009, 58% of all males ages 12 and older were current drinkers, higher than the rate for females. But in the youngest group, the percentage of current drinkers was nearly the same.” Teens may want to be seen as a grown up, or may be even curious.
Transition to 3rdMain Point: I just discussed about today’s kids intake of drugs and alcohol, so now lastly I’ll discuss about the solutions.
IV. Main Point 3: All these problems have many solutions, one of the many being more parental involvement and removal of negative environment in younger children.
A. Sub-point A: Controlling what the child watches on TV is the first solution. Don’t let them watch something that you wouldn’t want them to be watching. Having talks about sexual involvement with teenagers, so they won’t be curious and pick up habits from what they see. They will now what’s right and wrong. Parents could prepare for the challenges of teen years by laying everything down for having a solid communications and reasonable boundaries.
B. Sub-point B: Positive environments are ideal for children and as well as teenager. According to Jeanette Moninger a writer for parenting articles for parents.com in a study published in August 2010, “child’s life should be one of creative, physical, and intellectual exploration … its important for their development and help preserve some innocence.” By enforcing social and outdoor activities, they wont be tempted to go inside and play video games or check their phones.
Transition to Conclusion: I just covered the solutions to keep kids from growing up too fast, so now let’s recap on what I covered today.
V. Conclusio
A. Review Main Points: First, I talked about teen birth, then I talked about the use of alcohol and drugs, and lastly I talked about the eliminations to this problem.
B. Restate Thesis: I think that it is important for us to be aware of how fast kids today are growing up, every kid deserves a childhood.
C. Memorable Closer: There was a time when kids enjoyed being kids. Now, there is new technology and everywhere a kid turns around he or she is around with the sexual suggestions. Childhood is a significant part of life, and it should be respected and valued.
